SiGNS film fete to begin from Oct 21

The 9th SiGNS Film Festival for digital videos, which features national level competition for documentaries and short fiction, will be held in the city from October 21.
The five-day film festival, being organised by Kerala Region of the Federation of Film Societies of India in association with Kochi Biennale Foundation, will take place at Town Hall, Ernakulam, organisers said here today.
"This edition will commemorate the 50 years of film society movement in the state. The movies screened in this edition will focus on cinema experimentation (Cinema Experimenta) and Cinema of Resistance.
"The festival will also have discussion forums focusing on political interference in the functioning of film societies and institutes," said renowned filmmaker and festival's artistic director C S Venkiteswaran.

Kochi Biennale Foundation secretary Riyas Komu added SiGNS has emerged as a parallel movement in cinema, creating a social impact and this prompted us to associate with the festival.
The best short fiction and documentary movies screened under competition section will be awarded with John Abraham National Awards.

It was instituted in 1999 by the Kerala Region of the Federation of Film Societies of India in memory of renowned Malayali filmmaker John Abraham.
The competition was extended to the national level from 2005 and the festival was renamed as SiGNS with focus on documentary and short films in video format.

The John Abraham National Award for best documentary and short film offers Rs 50,000 as prize money apart from certificate of merit and memento.
An amount of Rs 25,000 will be awarded for the best movie under the categories of Cinema of Resistance and Cinema Experimenta respectively.